Every Tear A Waterfall
AN: Hi everyone!
What shall I say… I had today's afternoon off, it was raining outside, I was in a kinda kitschy/ tearful mood, and this is the outcome of that; a fluffy Mileven one-shot.
I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or storylines of the Stranger Things universe.
He was tossing right and left, the bed sheets tangling up between his long limbs, forming a muddle of cotton and downs. Mike stirred in his sleep, at the verge of waking up, as his body fought the subconscious feeling that something was not right.
His left arm reached out, only to fall onto the free space of the cold mattress. The November air coming through the open window, filled the room with an icy atmosphere, causing his full body to shiver, as he was now exposed to it, without the comfort of the sheets and the well-known warmth radiating from the body next to him.
Mike's eyes fluttered as he slowly opened them, taking in the obscurity around him, as his mind struggled to catch up to the situation. Slowly he realized that he was in his bedroom, in the middle of the night, the darkness only lightly fended off by the moon shining through the open window.
And he was alone; the silence of the night only interrupted by his raspy breathing cutting through the ice-cold air.
He sat up, stretching his stiff arms, and moved his legs to the right over the edge of the bed, to steady them on the ground, before finally standing up.
He stumbled into the direction of the bedroom door, his already usually clumsy nature being intensified by the sleepiness, that he hadn't shaken off, yet. He felt the friction from the fibres of the carpet underneath his feet, as he reached the door and walked into the upstairs hallway. With the navigation of someone who walked the same way countless times, he reached the staircase without turning on the lights and made his way downstairs.
He felt a cold stream of air coming to meet him, telling him that there must be another window open on the ground floor. He shivered heavily, as he was only wearing his loose boxers and a white t-shirt, the legs and arms mostly exposed to the elements of the approaching winter.
Mike shortly paused at the bottom to scan the area around him before he decided to follow the draught to the cosy kitchen. He knew he was on the right way when he entered the room and found the backdoor widely open. He passed the secluded breakfasting area with its small round table, where they would be sitting again in just a few hours from now.
If possible, the ice-cold air hit him even harder as soon as he stepped outside the house and onto the patio.
As he had expected since the moment, in which he had found the space of the bed next to him being deserted, El was standing at the railing, her back facing him. She didn't turn towards him, even though she must be able to hear the cracking of rotten wood with each of his steps.
Mike walked up to her and encircled her with his arms, pressing her tenderly against him, and El willingly gave in to his touch, resting her head back against his chest.
"You're catching a cold out here.", Mike whispered caringly from above, as he saw with concern that she was only wearing her night gown. He could only hope that she hadn't been standing like that out here for too long.
El didn't answer, only placing her arms over his, grabbing him with some force, as if she was searching for something to hold onto. He let it happen, trying to give her the comfort he knew that she needed.
A sudden droplet of water fell on his arm, shortly followed by another one, and another one, as if from a starting rain shower, but there was not a single cloud on the crystal-clear sky. The stars were shining brightly down on them, forming the constellations, that he had often explained to El, but tonight his gaze was not turned upwards, but downwards to the small woman in his arms, shedding silent tears.
A lump formed in his throat, as he watched her through the darkness, her gaze still fixed straight ahead onto the fields that were adjoin to their little home, observing the stalks of the grass moving sedately with the wind, forming a soothing and mesmerising picture.
They stood there for a while, letting the atmosphere consume them. Mike wanted to say something, but he withheld himself, knowing full well, that she would pick up the conversation, once she was ready for it. Her sadness was killing him; each tear that left her eyes, felt like a waterfall to him, threatening to drown him under the heaviness, that was pressing on his chest.
After agonizingly long minutes, he finally heard El's melodic voice.
"Mike…", she whispered, causing every hair of his body to stand up. Only she was able to make his name sound like it was the most precious word in world, and still after all these years, he was caught off guard by the sheer beauty of it.
"I don't think I can handle it.", she added after a short pause.
He knew what she was referring to; her fears were nothing new to him. He squeezed her lightly, trying give her the reassurance that she craved, and silently encouraging her to continue.
Another pause followed, before El spoke a second time. "How am I supposed to do it?", she started with a broken voice. "You know my upbringing and how I never experienced a normal childhood. I don't know how it's supposed work normally…" A sob cut through her speech, shattering Mike's heart into million pieces. "What if I'm damaged in some way?... What if I fail the task?... What if I'm uncapable of loving?...", she continued, but Mike couldn't take it any longer. He had been willing to give her the room to speak her mind, but as she listed one self-reproach after the other, he felt the need to step in.
"El, don't!", he interrupted her monologue. "Please stop beating yourself up!"
"But Mike, I…"
"No buts.", Mike cut in a second time. "El, you will be doing fine. I know it, you…", he started, but stopped himself.
He had to make her understand the sincerity of his next words, so he said instead, "El, could you please look at me?"
Slowly, she turned her head, taking the gaze away from the landscape in front of them and turning her tearful eyes up towards him. Mike removed his arms from her body and positioned them on both her cheeks, causing both to slightly reposition themselves, so that they now faced each other, without needing to bend their necks uncomfortably.
He locked his eyes with hers, so that she was forced to see the truth glistening in them, as he spoke up again. "El, you are the most incredible person in the world. You are caring, tender, devoted, and so much more. You faced every obstacle the world has ever thrown at you, and you managed to come out of it even stronger.
And yes, you were raised in the lab, but still you found your way through life. Hell, you've exceeded at it!
Everyone else learns how to adjust in this world right from the beginning, but you had lost the first twelve years, and still you navigated through the chaos, and you came out as a better person, than the most.
And finally, you are full of love, that you share with every soul that has the fortune to meet you. Your loving nature still surprises me each and every day, and I can't believe that I got this lucky to experience your love for me every single one of them."
Mike removed his hands from her cheeks and placed them on her growing belly. "You will be an excellent mum for our baby. It doesn't matter that you don't know how this is working in usual families, it doesn't matter that your upbringing was so different. All that matters is, that you're the most loving person I know, and I just know that you will love our baby unconditionally."
El looked up at him, still some doubt glistening in her eyes, but Mike observed with relief that the tears had stopped in the meantime. "You're sure?", she asked timidly.
"I've never been surer of anything in my life. You will navigate it, like you did with everything in your life, and you will exceed in parenting, as your loving heart will guide you."
"But I don't know how it works.", El added in a last attempt to fight his argumentation.
"Me, neither.", he replied and remembering a certain scene, he added with a smile on his lips, "Do you want to figure it out?"
A grin spread out on El's lips, finally removing the last doubts from her expression, and she nodded at him.
Relieved, Mike leaned in and kissed her forehead, followed by caressing her baby bump lovingly. He was excited about what was to come, and he hoped he had successfully removed her concerns, at least for tonight.
They had spoken of it ever since they got the happy news, and every few weeks El fell back into the self-doubt that threatened to fully consume her. But Mike was determined to pick her up every single time, no matter how often it was needed, until she would finally believe in herself and would cry no more.
Because though the uncertainty of the future was scaring him sometimes as well, he was more afraid of drowning in the water of her tears.